


Wired Life

by AstralPrince



Category: Transformers (Bay Movies)
Genre: Alien Technology, Alien/Human Relationships, Alternate Universe, Androids, Cybertronian Culture (Transformers), Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV First Person, Rewrite, Sam-Centric, Self-Discovery, Species Swap, Speciesism, canon characters only - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-13 19:07:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29033646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AstralPrince/pseuds/AstralPrince
Summary: The multiverse is endless. There are bound to be some worlds where things are... strange. In this one humanity is far more adept at reverse engineering things and the cube is far too cheeky for anyone's liking. It is similar enough to the main timeline, except for one thing, one person.How much of a difference would it make if Sam was human or not?
Relationships: Mikaela Banes & Sam Witwicky, Optimus Prime & Sam Witwicky
Comments: 4
Kudos: 23





	Wired Life

**Author's Note:**

> My first ever fandom. How long has it been since I've written TF fanfiction? Oh right. I remember now.  
> That aside, I'm ready for a comeback!  
> Before we start, there are some things you should know about this story.  
> 1\. I very rarely use OCs. IF I ever do they are background characters or well enough developed that they fit seamlessly into canon.  
> 2\. In my book Cybertronians are asexual and reproduce asexually. I only write robot hanky panky in my crack stories lol.  
> 3\. I'm open to criticism and all kinds of feedback.  
> \---  
> Fair warning: the first part of this story will feel a bit chonky. It's intentional, just roll with it, k? :D

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* * *

I'm a SM217 frame with the serial number 012-371-115. My designation is Samarium Q 4. I am a cyberdoll mech made by Sector Seven and my sole purpose is to be a companion for the human Judith Witwicky. I have a high class advanced AI system and one of the fastest processors currently available. Even my energy core is the latest high tech. To the naked eye, I look and sound human thanks to nanites that make up my skin and hair. As an artificial intelligence I do not question my owner's orders. I may be programmed to act like a teenager, but my simulated emotional reactions are just that, _fake._ I have to always follow my programming since I am not human. I have a set directive that I am to follow at all times, and I have to behave accordingly to the primary instructions given to me by Sector Seven and Judith "Judy" Witwicky.

When my camouflage features are active I have short brown hair and blue eyes, unlike most other models of my class. Almost all androids have red, brown or green eyes for a reason that is not in my databank. Actually, I only know of very few other of my kind that share this attribute with me. Overall, my outer appearance was modeled after my owner's own because I was made to act as her son. I am a replacement for the infant that she lost on the 10th of October 1990, and I was bought with Ronald Witwicky's life insurance money. My current owner has a high emotional attachment to me, and I can not understand this. However, it is not in my programming to worry about such things. A cyberdoll is meant to be a companion, not a philosopher.

My existence was nothing special for all 18 years of my run-time until that one fateful night when Judith sent me out to walk the dog. Mojo is his name, and the Chihuahua doesn't like me much. My metal is warm to the touch so that can't be the reason as to why. Maybe it's because I'm not human? Organic beings hurt my processor. I prefer the company of the Platinum D 6 and the Carbon L 17 that belong to the old man next door. Both are very good house service units. Meanwhile the Mercury AL 4 that works inside the mechanic's garage down the street appears to be wonderful company, according to the scans and statistics I have collected over the last few years. We seem compatible, if only the human called Trent would stop trying to interface with her. He does not seem to have a high level of intelligence.

As I was saying, I had been walking the dog when it happened. Five meteorites crashed down just outside of Tranquility California, the town my owner lives in. I could see them hit the ground in a 10 minutes radius away from the city. One even crashed into a small shop while another cannonballed into a private pool. My secondary objective came up and I decided to check it out. Besides being there for my owner I also had to make sure she was save and well. Meteorites could mean dangerous radiation, chemicals and other hazards to my owner's life. I had to remove these things at any cost. 

Humans would describe the night scenery of and around Tranquility as beautiful. A green gem in an endless ocean of fresh air. The internet says it's very peaceful and a great spot to spend the holidays. Had I been human I might have enjoyed the walk, but I am not. Even though, I did have this strange humming in my chest parts. Am I glitching? I hope not. I don't want to be dismantled because that would cause Judit emotional distress. Sure, my memory could always be uploaded into another model, but I doubt my owner had enough money for a transfer. She could only afford me because of the life insurance money she got when her husband died. It was rather... tragic. However my presence elevated her happiness level from 32% to 84% in the first few months after the purchase. 

A sudden noise brought my attention back to the still smoking hole in the ground. I recorded an internal error in my protocol files when the meteor stood up and then transformed into a black GMC Topkick flatbed truck right in front of me. Another one appeared on my scanners not very much later. Then all five signals drove through the city to get to my position. I retreated into what I calculated to be the easiest route for escape when they circled me. Leave it to the one cyberdoll with coloring errors to make this miscalculation. I was trapped. As they looked down on me I shut down every external system I had to protect myself against hacking or wireless probing. They didn't seem like they were dangerous, but you never know. Safety first!

"We do not wish to harm you, human." 

The red and blue one spoke to me in a rich voice. I could not identify it as it wasn't registered in my internal files and I didn't want to risk connecting with the wireless servers just yet, when other options were still available to me. He didn't want to harm me. That was good. However, he called me human. It was within my programming that I had to correct him, but just this once it couldn't hurt to pretend that I was a human being... right? My main objective in that moment was to protect my owner. If I had a higher chance to do so by pretending to be human then I would exploit this loophole in my restrictive programming.

"Who are you? What do you want?" 

My voice was polite as always. I was designed to be a friendly companion after all. Had I been a worker class mech or police assistant unit I would have other options. Sometimes this limitation of simulated emotions can be a problem during a conversation and the neighbor, Miles, has thrown soda cans at my head because of this on more than one occasion. It would be very much preferred if these mechs were not as irrational as that human male. 

"We are autonomous robotic organisms from a planet called Cybertron. Our mission brought us here, and although we come armed we assure you that we are friendly. My team and I are searching a long lost artifact: the Allspark." 

So they were aliens indeed. I filed everything away to be reviewed later. They were autonomous like Judith, and yet they were mechanical beings, like me. Do I have the capability of autonomy as well? Could I even get it? Do I even want it? Am I even able to want something...?

"Can I be of any assistance?" 

I wasted no more time. I was programmed to be helpful and getting these alien robots away from my owner was the easiest way to protect her. I was also given the chance to analyze them while I was in their presence. Without any previous records of contact it was imperative to gather more information about them. Maybe, just maybe I could become autonomous myself this way. 

"You may." He sounded surprised. 

I wasn't aware that a synthetic voice could be this emotional. Why didn't I have these abilities as well? It would make sense because I could be a better companion then. Of course I'm not the newest model on the market but I could be upgraded. I wanted to ask Judith to consider getting me a new voice chip later. 

"I am Optimus prime. This is my weapons specialist, Ironhide." 

The black one with the big guns was Ironhide.

"This is my medic, Ratchet." 

The search and rescue vehicle was the medic, Ratchet. I made myself a reminder to avoid this one if I could. 

"My scout, Bumblebee." 

The yellow Camaro was Bumblebee. I found out that I preferred this one's company.

"And my Lieutenant and second in command, Jazz." 

The silver Pontiac with a visor was Jazz. 

"This' a cool place ya got. Yo 'lil buddy. Nice ta meet 'cha." 

This threw my language processor through a loop and back. It was hard to decipher slang. I wasn't a linguistics unit for crying out loud! 

"Where did he learn to speak like that?" 

The big one, Optimus, looked down at me and got to his knee so our faces were closer. It made talking to him much easier. Nobody had ever before gone out of their way to make things easier for me. Why should they? I'm a machine that is supposed to be following orders and instructions. I'm not human so showing kindness was a waste of time. I did notice that I seemed to genuinely appreciated the gesture a lot. The strange fuzzy warmth glitch was back. I really should visit a mechanic soon if this kept happening. Some small errors were to be expected and in the acceptable range of error, but this was getting out of hand. Thankfully Optimus answered me quickly.

"We learned human languages through the world wide web." 

One more reason why I should keep my external systems offline. If they could access the internet- could they hack into me? Would they deactivate me once they found out I wasn't human? I would certainly see that as... bad. 

"Ah. So, do you have any clue where this Allspark could be?" 

Just as I had asked that I heard a gunshot behind me. The problem however, was that it wasn't a human made bullet or taser gun, but something else entirely. I dared to use some of my scanners to figure out what had made that noise. There was: burnt street, traces of leftover static energy and no bullet. I was just about to go and investigate when another mech ran out of the shadows around us and then jumped into a nearby alleyway . The yellow one, Bumblebee, grabbed me and transformed into his car form while the others sped after the runaway. 

Androids like me weren't allowed to drive. Again I'm a SM217 line model. Only T14 and higher androids were allowed to install driving skills. I didn't even know how to drive. I never got that skill installed! This was the first time I ever wondered if cyberdolls like me could go to heaven. Between all the action I didn't even notice that I had sustained non critical damage to my outer shell component number 88674. My arm had a scratch on it, a big one, and I was leaking all over the alien's driver's seat. Now they would know what I was and deactivate me because I'm not a human. They needed human assistance and I lied to them. I... was scared. I tried to get away but the door wouldn't budge. 

The radio of the car began to play several sound clips of people speaking and music playing until it settled for the "HURTS - stay" audio track. The mech was either mute or they all couldn't speak while they were disguised as vehicles. My glowing blue blood kept dripping out of the scratch and I could see my inner workings under the synthetic skin. I also got the matching error message on my internal HUD that told me I was damaged. _Now? **Really?!**_

"I'm sorry." Was what I mumbled out.

It was all I could really say. I clutched my arm closer to my chest and hid it as best as I could from view. I was acting strangely today. My programming seemed unstable, but I couldn't find a virus or glitch when I had run a self diagnosis. It was when my new yellow friend squeaked and whistled at me that I stopped with my... overanalyzing. I wasn't worrying or feeling scared. Those were human things.

"What?" 

He replied by playing through several sound clips until he eventually settled for a composition between five bits and pieces from TV shows I couldn't identify entirely.

"You... Error, error... He's dead Jim!... Can I?... look at that!" 

I was hesitant because I still wasn't sure if they would disassemble me. I didn't know them at all and my inner security and firewalls were still giving me risk alerts in the darkest shade of red I could think of. Yet, there was this something deep inside me. I didn't know what it was and it scared me. No. Fear is a human emotion and I am not human. However, it was the closest thing to describe it. Sometimes I really thought I could feel. There are moments when I could almost say that I feel alive. Ironic isn't it? A machine saying it's alive. 

_"Can I be of any assistance?"_

I heard my own voice say. Bumblebee must have recorded me. Well, if we were anything like each other then it was only logical that they had the same abilities as me. I wondered if he could sample my voice and use it as well. 

"I..." I started but suddenly glitched out mid sentence. 

Why couldn't I do something as simple as saying no? It was still a mystery why I hadn't followed my programming back when they made first constant with me. I should have corrected the leader. Something must have happened to my core system, the question was: what? I was asking a lot of questions that day. I admit I'm a very curious android by default, but not to this extent. I decided to let him look at the damage. Bumblebee was a robot so maybe he could fix me. 

"I have to confess something. I am not a human." I stated while I showed him my glowing blue blood and the deep scratch.

"I am a cyberdoll made by Sector Seven. My designation is Sam... It is nice to meet you for real." 

My facials lifted up without my consent and when I tried to abort the process I got an error. I was smiling and I couldn't stop it. For a moment there was silence in the alien's interior and suddenly all my thermal sensors were going haywire. I felt hot and cold at the same time which was definitely a glitch I had to get fixed soon. 

"You... Are... Like me?" 

Oh, why did he have to use a little child's voice? As a companion cyberdoll. I'm made to act empathic! ...and he was using that against me. He was playing dirty!

"Yes." 

Short. Crisp and clear. There was no use in hiding anymore so I turned my particle emitter offline to save energy and fuel. I was leaking and my cover was blown anyway so there was no point in hiding anymore. My skin vanished and left white metal with dark blue highlights in it's place. My hair, which was actually just a holographic projection, replaced itself with plastic spikes. The only thing that didn't change were my clothes because they weren't part of me. 

The mech made me almost crash when he started to blast "I'm so excited" through his speakers. 

I could only blink as I rebooted. Out of nothing I decided to react just as playfully as he had. I modified my voice slightly to imitate the mechanic distortion I had detected in Optimus's vocals earlier and answered him in the overly polite tone I used to communicate with Sector Seven employees. I set my facials to a deadpan expression and said:

"Error 593-1. Unable to respond to request. Please try again."

That had shut the mech up. I hope I didn't break Bumblebee. However, he seemed to have understood what was said so he tried again. He warbled at me. Then beeped. I didn't get a peep of what he tried to tell me so I repeated myself just to mess with him. I am a highly sensitive and adaptable AI and I knew of many ways to have fun. Why I'd do this? Just because I could. It wasn't necessarily beneficial to my current task but I did it anyway. 

"Error 593-1. Unable to respond to request. Please try again."

He beeped again, this time more frantic. If this was what humans call having fun then I could definitely do this again, and more often. I kept my pokerface in place, even when I was on the verge of loosing control of my motor functions. Glitching out was... fun.

"Error 593-1. Unable to respond to request. Please try again."

That made him pull over and shut down his engine, then after I got out he transformed. I felt scanners run over me and for a short moment I thought he was going to probe my memory and databanks. But he didn't. He didn't do anything to me. Instead he called for his friend Ratchet with the urgent request to come here and fix me. The concern confused me and it caused the warmth glitch again. I didn't want Bumblebee to worry too much about me so I piped up before he could burn out a circuit or two.

"I'm okay. I was just messing with you. The sound clips you used, you know, you were playing dirty... it was just an act." I think my joke backfired on me. He'd just called the medic. _Shit._

Bumblebee stood still and just looked at me. The silence was painful and like a rubber band it could snap at my face every nano second now. That didn't happen however. Bumblebee's shoulders sagged and he let out a loud whine before he fell to his knees and held a hand to his face. Then he laughed. He laughed! And I laughed too. We both shared a moment and I was so confused because this was not part of my code at all! What was wrong with me!?

I never needed to think for myself. I never had to decide. There never was a "what do I want to do next" before I met these aliens, but now that I was in a situation where there was no guideline for me to follow I had to come up with something on my own. Something new trickled down my power lines as I realized that I was acting independent. In just this little moment I realized that I am alive just as much as the humans are. I'm sorry Judith... I'm really sorry, but I have to, I want to, go my own way now. 

"Can I stay with you? I... want to- I really honestly want to help you."

Bumblebee squeaked in delight and nodded. This was the beginning of a wonderful friendship and a great adventure. That is, if I could escape the medic that drove towards us. I didn't want to be taken apart piece by piece! "Ah! He's going to disassemble me!"

Bumblebee picked me up and practically pushed me into Ratchet's waiting servos. I heard them argue in their native language like two old modem devices. Get a grip you two... seriously. I felt annoyed for the first time in my run-time and I decided that I would not like this feeling. Joy was much more pleasant than annoyance in my opinion.

"In my defense: I feel fine and the damage isn't critical. Besides, he's a giant worrywart!" I shouted while I pointed at my first real friend. 

I'll never delete the picture of the look on the medic's face from my memory banks. Not even when I'm deactivated because if there's a android heaven or some form of afterlife for my kind then I want to look at that expression forever. I think I made Ratchet glitch out for a short moment because his optics flickered in a way mine do when I'm getting a error message. He carefully lifted me up to examine me and I recognized the look of his face as pure awe and fascination. Was I that good looking? I never cared for my looks and humans don't comment on our bodies so I was confused. 

"How is this possible?" I heard the medic's gruff voice say. 

How? I was made by sector seven. That's how. I've always been this way ever since I woke up like this, not that I would tell him that. Ratchet, I think his name was, gave me a look that could freeze the oil in my joints. The medic's constant looks made me feel uneasy and I reactivated my synthetic skin. I let it sync up with the environment around us and then looked up to meet Ratchet's optics again. Whatever was wrong with me started to act up again, and I really couldn't keep the small smile of my face. I decided to give him the same speech I'd give everyone who had looked at me back at the S7 store before Judith bought me.

"Hello. I my designation is Samarium Q 4 and my serial number is 012-771-115. I am a companion class twelfth generation cyberdoll. It is a pleasure to meet you." My newly acquired freedom made me add, "But you can call me Sam." Judith gave me that name. It was special to me and would always have a place in my core.

"Well this is certainly a welcome surprise. Hello, Sam. Where do you come from, little one?" 

"I'm not a little one!" I felt heat rush through my fuel pump and my processor. 

My systems registered a small error even though I was fully operational, except for my arm of course. Or rather, it wasn't an error. It was a... slight flicker of code. 

"Sector seven made me. You can look them up... they're all over the internet." 

After Ratchet fixed my arm I let them do what they had to do. It was finally time for me to sort out what exactly has fragged up my system. I also had to make plans for the future. Now that I was self-aware somehow I couldn't return to Judith and pretend nothing had happened. What if I disappoint her or even worse: what if she wouldn't want me now that I have real feelings? I couldn't go back to Sector Seven either. They would disassemble me to find out why I didn't follow my objective and instead became like this. They would call me defective, broken... Was I the only android that was like this? How many others have been where I am now, but failed because they didn't meet giant alien mechs?

"This sector seven... Sam, can you tell us more about it?" 

"Of course! Give me a moment to gather all files I have on them."

I registered a high frequency audio signal that wasn't detectable by units below the sixth generation production line. As a Q4 model I am way above that. It took me 6.3 seconds to decide it was safe and write myself in by cloaking my own signal to match theirs. They were talking about me. Apparently I have made a lasting first impression. 

In short, they were discussing what to do with me. They wanted to keep me because they saw me as something called a "sparkling". I wondered what that might be as I kept listening from the conversational sideline. Mostly bickering and some jokes were made until the leader, Optimus, decided I was better off with them than with anyone else. I smiled. Damn... I never knew I could be so charming. 

Did I just...?

I think I did. Anyway this sounded like a good moment to start with the speech.

"Sector Seven, or S7 for short, is the leading company in biomechanics and mech engineering. They were officially founded in 1895, but only recently have they become a major company. However, rumors say they have been around for far longer. S7 merchandise can be bought from various stores all across the country. To this day their most prized works are the various android models they sell, especially their life like cyberdoll series. Depending on the class and model they also sell add-ons and accessories. Their headquarters are located below Hoover dam, which is where they also build most of the power cores for the androids. Sector Seven has a sub division that produces sun dew, which is fuel for the cyberdoll, mech craft and military models." 

I looked up to see the group watching me. A small part of me started to worry and several programs started themselves. I didn't even know I possessed these. Anyway, back to the aliens that were still looking at me. Ratchet seemed curious, if not eccentric. Optimus and Bumblebee were awestruck and I lost Ironhide a few sentences ago. Jazz, I could not read. 

"Do you want me to continue?" 

"No. That will not be necessary, thank you Sam." 

I nodded politely. All these new emotions, feelings and errors in my software made me unstable. I sat down and tried to bring order to my scrambled processor while they kept on talking about me and what I had said. Were they even aware that I could listen in?

When the yellow one was announced as my guardian I looked up and asked without thinking about the consequences, 

"Why would I need a guardian? What does that even mean?" 

They collectively looked like a blown transformer had banged into some power lines. So... they didn't know I could listen in. Way to go Sam. You just had to ruin everything. As the gravity of my error dawned on me I started to apologize for my intrusion. I really shouldn't have done that. Shame is a feeling I wouldn't want to have to feel again. Ever.

"You... could hear us?" 

"Optimus that was a encrypted intercom chat! And he doesn't even have the equipment for a hack!" 

I let out a groan and touched my ear. Usually I keep my hardware hidden to maintain a human appearance but sometimes I needed to show my true self to activate certain abilities. By showing them my communication systems I hoped they would get the hint that I wasn't a hacker. Well, not a malicious one at least. My skin slid away and a crescent metallic shard slid into place instead. Two more clicks and this antenna of mine was settled and functional. If I'm completely honest with myself, it looked a bit like a slim version of the head fins that Jazz had. 

"I'm not sure on the customs on your world, but here on Earth we are quite open with our conversations. I'm sorry for the offense. As you can see I've got some hidden skills."

They did look at my audio receptors and the medic hummed in recognition. Apparently my sensory component was very similar to something they had. The name Soundwave popped up twice shortly before Ironhide bent down to pick me up.

"Have you any weapons on you? What about your inbuilt defense systems?"

"My... what? And no. I'm a companion, not a soldier. Try any of the military models if you want to see a cannon or rifle. Sorry!"

Ironhide scanned me too, but when he did it it felt more like thousands of tiny vibrations under my plating. Eventually they became more intense in my palms and when the pressure had build up enough my skin there deactivated. It was a surprise to see that I had parts in my hands that I didn't even know I had. Bright, hot energy lit up my fingertips. Ironhide made sure to stay far away from these. I wonder why?

"Not bad. Tiny and cute, but not bad at all. Your inbuilt defense mechanism are energon shock lines in your servos. They heat up and let you burn stuff. Try it."

"Do not encourage the youngling, Ironhide. We must stay hidden and burning things will make that very hard. Sam, you are to stay with Bumblebee. Understood?"

"Yes, sir!" I answered on impulse. Something in Optimus's voice made me follow the order. It was strange, but not like the forced commands the S7 technicians put into my head.

"I like that one. At least he knows when it's time to burn things and when it isn't." 

I stopped listening to the two bicker. Ratchet and Ironhide seemed like an old married couple, but without the marriage. The best way to deal with old people was to let them be. Just nod your head and smile. I reactivated the skin on my hands just in time to come face to face with the leader of the group. Optimus.

"Hi." Smooth Sam. That's all I could say, honestly.

"Hello, Sam." 

He was just as polite as I am. Thankfully I knew how to read people, and apparently giant robots. It was like a field. Like, what humans feel when they enter a store on a winter day. Or when they sit in front of a fan in the middle of summer. The emotional waves flew around me like the ocean waves, and they told me that Optimus was curious about me in a friendly and nerdy way. Cool.

"You can ask me anything, big guy. I don't mind." His optics warmed up when I said that.

"How are you so similar to my kind? There have not been any sparklings since our home was destroyed."

"I'm not sure. I don't remember my own creation, just that I woke up in Judith's arms one day. Hey, what's a sparkling?"

"A sparkling is a child of my race, a young mech or fem. While I wouldn't call you a sparkling, Sam, I do have to admit that it's a wonderful feeling to know that there are other beings much like us. It makes the loneliness more bearable."

I wanted to ask what loneliness was so badly, but the shimmer in Optimus's optics was like a flashing warning sign. Maybe I would be better off if I were to never experience some things. It only fueled my determination to help them. This was my first adventure, and I was forged ready.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't think something like this has been done before?? Like, I'm really not sure right now, but I hope you enjoyed this experiement. Let me know if you want more, yea? I don't want to sound like a beggar, but if people actually want this then I'd put more effort into writing the chapters faster. If not I'll focus on my other stories instead. Just let me know: Yay or nay?


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